I love the two sided argument state-level Republicans (particularly governors) use when talking about our economy. When speaking about President Obama and his policies, they’ll undoubtedly say his policies are failing and have hurt our economy. Yet, when they’re trying to champion their own political successes, often the first numbers they cite are jobs numbers.

It’s always funny. When a state’s jobs numbers are good, that state’s governor takes credit. But when they’re bad, it’s because of the federal government. Well, at least in the world of Republican “logic.”

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made a statement recently where he touted the jobs success New Jersey has experienced, claiming that since 2010 the state has created 143,000 private-sector jobs.

The time frame they used for their findings was from February 2010 (Christie’s first full month in office) until August 2013 (the last month we have finalized jobs data). And it’s true — in that time frame, the state of New Jersey did create 143,000 private-sector jobs.

Oh, but what also happened in February 2010? Well, that would be the first month of the ongoing 44 consecutive months that the United States has experienced private-sector job growth.

So, let’s see. Chris Christie is claiming that his “leadership” has resulted in 143,000 private-sector jobs (a “True” statement) starting the very first full month he assumed office. You know, when his policies had absolutely no impact on New Jersey’s economy.

But that was when the country as a whole experienced its first month (first of what would be 44 consecutive months — and counting) of private-sector job growth. You know, when President Obama’s economic policies began to show their true impact following the worst economic crash our country had seen in nearly a century.

Now, if Christie had just taken office (meaning it was impossible his policies had any chance at having an impact on New Jersey’s economy as of yet) and private-sector job growth was already established (and continues to grow to this day) it’s clear that his leadership wasn’t the triggering point for that job growth.

In other words, either the private-sector job growth is due in part to his predecessor — or the successful economic policies of the Obama administration triggered it.

Oh, and so much for that “job-killing Obamacare,” huh?

So the way I look at it is, Christie must believe President Obama’s policies have been a massive success. Not only has “Obamacare” not destroyed job creation (since he’s bragging about the job growth over the last three years since the Affordable Care Act was passed), but he clearly believes that the economic policies pushed by President Obama have been highly successful. Especially considering the job growth which he’s bragging about began during his first month in office—when his policies would have had absolutely no impact.

But President Obama’s clearly did, considering Christie’s first full month in office was the beginning of our current 44 consecutive months of private-sector job creation. So yes, congrats on those 143,000 jobs, governor. I hope to see the number continue to rise.

Allen Clifton is a native Texan who now lives in the Austin area. He has a degree in Political Science from Sam Houston State University. Allen is a co-founder of Forward Progressives and creator of the popular Right Off A Cliff column and Facebook page. Be sure to follow Allen on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to his channel on YouTube as well.